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GAMES NOTES: ALABAMA WINS SEC TITLE

ALABAMA FOOTBALL FINAL GAME NOTES 2009 SEC FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME (courtesy of UA Media Relations)
ALABAMA 32, FLORIDA 13

TEAM NOTES
ALABAMA WINS 22ND SEC CHAMPIONSHIP: Winning its first SEC football championship since 1999, Alabama claimed its SEC-leading 22nd conference football championship when the Crimson Tide defeated Florida in the 2009 SEC Championship Game. In addition to its 22 SEC Championships, Alabama also won four Southern Conference titles (1924, 1925, 1926 and 1930), giving the school 26 conference football championships.

ALABAMA NOW 3-4 IN SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME APPEARANCES: Alabama played in its seventh SEC Championship Game as the 2009 SEC Western Division champion. The Crimson Tide is 3-4 in SEC Championship Games with the victory over Florida on Saturday.

BEATING THE BEST: With the win over Florida, Alabama is 8-2 against the Associated Press Top 25 since the start of the 2008 season. The Crimson Tideâ€™s victory over Florida was the Tideâ€™s fifth win over a top 10 team dating back to the start of the 2008 season. Alabama is 5-0 against the AP Top 25 in the 2009 season.

13 WINS TIES FOR MOST IN A SEASON IN ALABAMA HISTORY: The win over Florida gives Alabama a 13-0 record, tied for the most wins in a single season by any Crimson Tide squad. The 1992 team won a school record 13 games en route to the schoolâ€™s 12th national title. The 2009 squad is the fourth in school history to win at least 12 games, joining the 1979, 1994 and 2008 squads.

ALABAMA 28-1 UNDER SABAN WHEN LEADING AT THE HALF: Alabama led Florida, 19-13, at halftime on Saturday, before going on to the victory. With the win, the Crimson Tide improves to 28-1 when leading at halftime under head coach Nick Saban, including a 21-game winning streak. The only loss came against LSU in 2007 when UA held a 20-17 halftime lead before losing, 41-34, on Nov. 3, 2007, at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The Crimson Tide is 2-5 under Saban when trailing at halftime and 2-2 when tied at halftime.

BEST COACHING STARTS: With the win over Florida, Alabama head coach Nick Saban has compiled a 32-8 (.800) record in his career with the Tide and the 32 wins rank as the fourth-most for any Crimson Tide head football coach after 40 games. Wallace Wade holds the record for most wins after 40 games with 35 victories while Frank Thomas and Gene Stallings are second with 34. Xen Scott and Paul â€œBearâ€ Bryant are tied for fifth with 28 wins at this point in their careers. Below are the most wins by UA coaches after the first 40 games at Alabama.

ALABAMA-FLORIDA SERIES: With the victory, Alabama holds a 22-14 series lead over Florida in a series that dates back in the Alabama record books to the 1904 season. Florida does not recognize the 1904 game, claiming their team was a â€œclubâ€ team that season. The Crimson Tide and Gators met for the 36th time in the 2009 SEC Championship Game, the seventh time in the SEC Championship game with the Gators holding a 4-3 lead.

SABAN VERSUS FLORIDA: With the victory, Alabama head coach Nick Saban has a 3-4 record in his career against Florida, with five of the seven meetings coming while he was the head coach at LSU. He compiled a 2-1 record against the Gators in Gainesville and a 0-2 record in Baton Rouge.

TWO GAMES, SAME STADIUM: The 2009 SEC Championship Game marked the Tideâ€™s second game in the Georgia Dome this season. Alabama opened the season on September 5 with a 34-24 win over No. 7 Virginia Tech in the 2009 Chick-fil-A College Kickoff. The two Georgia Dome appearances marked the eighth time in school history that Alabama has played two games in the same stadium in the same season. Alabama has also played two games in the same season at Grant Field (1942), Tulane Stadium (1947), the Orange Bowl (1952), the Astrodome (1970), Mississippi Memorial Stadium (1982), the Superdome (1992) and the Georgia Dome (2008 and 2009).

DOME SWEET DOME: With the victory, Alabama is 11-5-1 all-time in domed stadiums. The 2009 SEC Championship Game was the Tideâ€™s second game in a domed stadium this season and its fifth in the last two seasons.

GEORGIA ON MY MIND: With the victory, Alabama is 31-28-3 all-time in games played in the state of Georgia, including a 4-1 mark the last two seasons. The Crimson Tide owns an 18-16-3 record in the city of Atlanta and has won eight of its last 11 games played there. Alabama is 13-10 in games played in Athens and 0-2 in Columbus.

INGRAM SCORES 3 TOUCHDOWNS: Sophomore running back Mark Ingramâ€™s three rushing touchdowns gives Ingram 15 rushing touchdowns in the 2009 season and the 27 in his two-year career at Alabama. Those totals rank among the best in Alabama history.

INGRAM OVER 100 YARDS RUSHING FOR 7TH TIME THIS SEASON; 8TH TIME IN HIS CAREER: Mark Ingramâ€™s 113 rushing yards gives him seven 100-yard rushing performances in 2009, tying an Alabama record for 100-yard rushing outings in a season originally set by Shaun Alexander in 1999. Ingram has eclipsed 100 rushing yards eight times in his Alabama career, ranking ninth in Alabama history. Alexander (15 from 1996-99) and Bobby Humphrey (15 from 1985-88) hold the record.

LONGEST RECEPTION OF INGRAMâ€™S CAREER SETS UP HIS OWN RUSHING TD: Mark Ingram took a screen pass 69 yards to the Florida 3-yard line with approximate 4:00 left in the second quarter to set up his own 3-yard touchdown run that gave Alabama a 19-10 lead with 3:32 remaining in the first half. That pass and run is the longest pass reception of Ingramâ€™s career.

TIFFIN NOW 2ND IN SEC HISTORY FOR KICKING POINTS & FIELD GOALS MADE: Senior placekicker Leigh Tiffin converted field goals of 48 and 34 yards in the first half. The field goals, Tiffinâ€™s 28th and 29th of the 2009 season, extended his Alabama single-season and career records for most field goals made at Alabama. He now has 377 career points to rank second among kickers in SEC history behind Georgiaâ€™s Billy Bennett, who holds both the SEC and NCAA scoring record with 409 career points. With 82 field goals made in his career, Tiffin ranks second on the SECâ€™s career field goals made list, just five behind Georgiaâ€™s Billy Bennett (87), who is also the NCAA career leader.